The past few months have been busy as we readied the revision of The Bipolar Child for its September publication date, and as we continue to launch the first programs of the Juvenile Bipolar Research Foundation. Last week JBRF launched its professional listserv for physicians. This is the first online forum for physicians from around…

This newsletter is a tad late because we’ve been so busy with the publication of the revised and expanded edition of The Bipolar Child, and because we’re continuing to develop the research programs of the Juvenile Bipolar Research Foundation. A few weeks ago JBRF launched its new educational forum for parents and educators, and if…

Three years ago, we published the first issue of The Bipolar Child Newsletter, and in the opening paragraph we outlined what we hoped to accomplish: We wrote: “We thought an e-mail newsletter would be a good forum in which to keep parents, educators, and mental health professionals abreast of the newest findings in the fields…

A mother from New Jersey wrote and described a scene that occurred not long ago as she was driving her nine-year-old son to soccer practice. A commercial for an anxiety clinic came on the radio and the announcer asked: “Do you worry a lot about things that don’t seem to bother other people? Are you…

The preliminary findings of the largest on-going study examining children at risk for bipolar disorder. Can an early symptom profile be detected? The clinical features of hyper-alertness and oversensitivity as early predictors of a bipolar disorder. Latest News: Juvenile Bipolar Research Foundation Genetic Study Conferences in Colorado Springs and Ashville, North Carolina featuring Demitri Papolos,…

We all experience bouts of boredom in life, but children and adolescents with bipolar disorder seem particularly prone to them. It often seems difficult for these children to become engaged with projects, or to set goals, and though a parent can offer any number of choices of activities, the children can’t seem to invest in…

How many times have we all jotted down a list to take with us to the supermarket? Even a simple vertical column of ordinary household items requires more than we realize. We scan areas of the house and pull from memory different food stuffs or supplies that need to be replenished or replaced: refrigerator (need…

Does this sound familiar? Yesterday morning it took an hour-and-a-half attempting to get him up. We kept shaking him, beseeching, threatening, beseeching anxiously…. We even called his cell phone thinking he might pick it up for a friend’s call. He simply growled, muttered something we would have preferred not to hear, and turned over and…

One of the questions we asked on the initial survey for The Bipolar Child, concerned a craving for carbohydrates: did the child or adolescent crave starchy foods such as potatoes, breads, pastas, and macaroni and cheese? or sugary foods such as candy, cookies, and ice cream? We’ll never forget the follow-up phone interview we had…

At a recent conference on pediatric bipolar disorder, the topic of the seasonal aspects of the illness came up and caused a flurry of nods from the parents in the audience. These parents were aware that, despite the extraordinarily rapid daily shifts in mood, their sons and daughters did indeed have a depressive slump that…

The primary purpose of a consultation is a comprehensive assessment of the past and current course of illness and detailed history of treatments that would enable the development of a more effective treatment plan.